Nutrition and exercise are just a piece of the health puzzle.
Health is incredibly complex and nuanced. And it’s easy to believe that health is all up to us when the health and wellness messaging almost always revolves around physical behaviors like, diet and exercise. While these things are certainly an important piece of the puzzle, this laser focus leaves behind a huge gap when it comes to what determines overall health.
There is way more to health than the mistaken and narrow concept that we have complete control over our health through diet and physical activity. Yet society generally recognizes food and fitness as the golden road to health. That said, it makes sense to work on individual behaviors for health. There are a lot of things that are not within our control when it comes to health. I mean, there’s not much you can do as one person when it comes to changing pollution exposure, altering genes or fixing the system of healthcare. So, it makes sense that we gravitate towards what is within our control through individual behaviors.
But when the focus on these behaviors is so narrowed and zoomed in on, it makes it seem as if health were entirely in our control. Not to mention it creates an enormous pressure that you “should” be doing the “right” things.
Think about some of these factors and how little individual control many of us have over them:
- Access to healthy food and clean water
- Access to healthcare/quality healthcare
- Pollution exposure
- Genetics
- Exposure to drugs, tobacco or firearms
- Gender identity and sexual orientation
- Education level
- Income level
- Stress levels
- Work conditions
- Discrimination (like weight stigma, racism)
- Social support and resources
- Education and job opportunities
- Language and literacy level
- Health literacy level…to name a few
So much of what determines health is not influenced by personal choice.
The reality is individual behaviors only account for 36% of health. And of the 36%, there’s way more that goes into it than just diet and exercise. There’s also things like risk-related behaviors (like driving behavior and wearing a seatbelt), smoking, sleep patterns, alcohol use and drug use. So, no matter how well you feed yourself or how well you exercise, it doesn’t account for everything. So much of our health is beyond our control, so stressing over perfect eating and perfect fitness isn’t necessary. And, in fact, it can be counterproductive if it causes stress on the body. If eating and food decisions are consistently loaded with fear, worry, shame and anxiety with negative feelings towards oneself, those feelings may have a worse effect on health than the food itself and it can take away from the quality of your life.
We know fitness and nutrition matter when it comes to health. And they help with quality of life, energy levels, mood and can help you feel better physically. But so much of what is depicted in headlines is causing a world of confusion about nutrition and a pressure to do things perfectly. What we really know about nutrition and exercise is that there is no one “right” way to eat or move. And it’s the patterns of what we do over time that matter for better health and longevity. Over the course of a week or month do I mostly eat a pleasantly satisfying, nourishing dinner? Over a week are most of my meals consisting of a balance of carbs, protein and fat? Is there mostly a variety of fruits and vegetables in my eating? Over a week, am I moving my body regularly? And so on.
Instead of zooming your lens entirely into every food and exercise decision and behavior, zoom out. You don’t need to exercise perfectly or like an athlete, and you don’t need to put everything you eat under a microscope to improve health. No one food will make or break your health. And no single snack, meal or day of eating will make a difference when it comes to overall health. When you zoom out and look at the patterns, that’s where you’ll see the big picture.
So when looking at this perspective of food and exercise as just a small piece of the health puzzle, it can help with a more flexible and compassionate mindset when engaging in these behaviors. And it helps with letting go of the responsibility and the feeling that you have to do it all 100% perfectly.
If You Liked “What Determines Health?” You Might Also Enjoy:
Reference: